John Arthur Jones claimed he was at Rio Ferdinand's restaurant in Manchester on an occasion he is accused of having shone a bright light at an RAF Mona jet

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A man accused of endangering an RAF trainer jet on Anglesey by shining a bright light into its cockpit was staying at a Manchester hotel and having dinner at Rio Ferdinand’s restaurant when undercover police claimed they had seen him at home, a court heard today.

On the night of one alleged offence he was discussing the tragic death of his nephew with his brother, he said.

Anglesey businessman John Arthur Jones, 66, of Parc Cefni, Bodffordd, denies 13 charges of endangering aircraft at RAF Mona between November 2013 and September 2014, by allegedly tracking them with a powerful torch light.

He told the court that on the night of yet another alleged incident he was visiting his parent’s grave at Llantrisant cemetery. On another he had visited his parents’ in law to collect hay for his wife’s horse.

Lisa Judge, defending, said police carrying out a recce at Jones’ home, claimed to have seen him at the foot of a ladder at his home, about to fix a light on the outside of the house.

But from diary entries and receipts, Jones was able to say he and his wife were staying at the Midland Hotel in Manchester at that time and Jones – a lifelong Manchester United supporter – had remembered dining at Rio Ferdinand’s restaurant.

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Jones had also used information provided by RAF pilots about the source of the lights and found some came from the Environment Agency site, another the Welsh Water works and others in fields – but not from his home at Parc Cefni.

Jones told a Mold Crown Court jury that he had purchased the land at Parc Cefni and had planning permission for 22 lodges. He had built two – living in one himself – and decided because he liked the area so much he would limit any future development to no more than 10 or 12 lodges. The gym and nursery on site and a nearby cycle track were all aimed at promoting a leisure style development.

Asked by defence barrister Lisa Judge if he had threatened to put up weather balloons to “be an irritant” to the RAF he explained he had a lifelong passionate interest in the weather.

“I have a digital weather station, giving air temperature and humidity and barometers. I record wind speed and I have loads of weather balloons,” he said.

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He has thought of using the weather balloons as a way of advertising, trying to get more business for one of his tenants , who ran the local children’s nursery at Parc Cefni. He informed the RAF of his intentions only because he knew regulations required him to.

Asked why he had searches on his computer for “long throw LED torches”, he explained that he had been considering taking a lease on the nearby Welsh Water-owned fishing lake but knew they would require sophisticated safety equipment, including flares and lighting equipment to identify people on the water.

He also had infra-red operated fixed cameras for another of his passions – wildlife. He submitted recordings to BBC’s Springwatch programme.